A time-lapse view, backstage at 'Wicked'

A time-lapse view, backstage at 'Wicked'

3 cameras and dozen angles fast-forward you through the set up backstage, of the nationally touring Broadway show, Wicked, in this one-minute time-lapse during it's 2013 run in Orlando. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)

3 cameras and dozen angles fast-forward you through the set up backstage, of the nationally touring Broadway show, Wicked, in this one-minute time-lapse during it's 2013 run in Orlando. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)

It's an Oz-themed weekend in central Florida, as Disney Co. rolls out its on-screen homage to the Wizard in the debut of the feature film 'Oz: The Great and Powerful.' Meanwhile, at the Epcot theme park, their annual flower festival features an Oz tribute with a pop-up garden of glass poppies. And on stage, 'Wicked,' the long-running Broadway prequel to the Wizard of Oz story wraps up a nearly three-week run at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center, in Orlando, Sunday.

With so much Oz-centric culture being offered, it occurred to me: What would happen if I wired the backstage of the national-touring Broadway show with multiple cameras, a dozen angles and photographed the first day of the stage-build for the show's run at that Bob Carr? At the invitation of the Florida Theatrical Association, the local partner that brings national-touring Broadway shows to Orlando, I decided to find out during set-up for ' Wicked.'

Using three different cameras simultaneously to shoot time-lapse sequences --about 3,600 images per hour per camera-- I assembled a fast-forward, 1-minute glimpse of the remarkable afternoon in which a ballet of more of than 50 set and lighting designers, carpenters, movers, roadies, and staff transform the stage to the home-away-from-home of 'Wicked.' From offload to near-completion in a matter of hours, Team Wicked assembled the massive sets with breathtaking precision.

• Click here for the 1-minute, time-lapse video of the 'Wicked' set-up backstage.

The gates to Oz are assembled onstage during during the "load-in" of the sets for the Broadway show "Wicked," at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center Tuesday, February 19, 2013. The show wraps its nearly three week run, Sunday. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel) Newsgate CCI id: B582724455Z.1